April 10th

Kenneth Zangerle, 76, of Hopkinton, died at his home on Saturday, March 30, 2013. Funeral services were held April 4 at St. Luke’s Catholic Church, Hopkinton, with interment in the Hopkinton Cemetery. Father John Kremer officiated.

I’ve been working in the garage a lot these past couple of months trying to build what is essentially a giant hamster wheel. “Who needs a giant hamster wheel?” you may ask. The answer, silly, is Karen and Cat Lady.
You may have seen Cat Lady about town, she’s the woman that has a special stroller designed to push her cats, currently Sissy Lu and Puffy. While she walks, she talks to her pets much as a mother might, cooing soft words of praise and comfort.

We’ve all been told that cleanliness is next to godliness, but I’ve never quite accepted the connection. I heard the phrase most often when my mother was trying to get me to perform some unpleasant chore like scrubbing off the ring around the bathtub, or cleaning up the mess the cat made under the sofa. She expected it to convince me to wash my hair when I’d rather be at the library searching for a Sherlock Holmes story I hadn’t already read, or to help her polish mirrors and windows when they looked clean enough to me.

April 2nd

TIFFIN– Jason Goslin has a young team with plenty of returning players willing to work to improve. Goslin moved from coaching the Clear Creek Amana (CCA) girls golf team to the boys squad this season and inherits five upperclassmen and eight underclassmen.
Seniors A.J. Liddell and Lee Herr are back as returning starters along with solitary junior Jacob Klingeman. Sophomore Zak Caldwell rounds out the experienced starters. Sophomores Killian Walters and Dylan Wolfe are returning letter winners while sophomore Ben Gingerich and freshman Nolan Navara are promising newcomers.

TIFFIN– The Clear Creek Amana (CCA) boys’ track and field team finished the 2012 season in 11th place in the WaMaC out of 15 teams. But, having six state meet qualifiers on the 2013 roster, and the conference indoor champion in the long jump gives the Clipper crew hope for a better showing.

NORTH LIBERTY– About 75 North Liberty residents came out Wednesday night to learn more about what’s in store for the city’s streets and parks.
City officials held an open house last Wednesday, March 27, to allow the public to view plans for future road projects and two city parks.
“The purpose of the meeting was to get the public familiar with our upcoming projects,” said North Liberty Mayor Tom Salm. “Jones Boulevard, Highway 965 and west side park improvements.”

NORTH LIBERTY– JJ’S Cupcakes has purchased Isaac’s Creamery in North Liberty and will now offer gourmet desserts along with North Liberty’s favorite hard scoop ice cream.
JJ’s Cupcakes and Isaac’s Creamery will officially open April 8 at 25 East Cherry St. in North Liberty. Located in the 100-year-old Koser’s Grocery building, JJ’s Cupcakes and Isaac’s Creamery will offer patrons 30 varieties of gourmet cupcakes and 16 flavors of locally-made hard scoop ice cream.

TIFFIN– Tiffin City Council member Mike Ryan has not changed his mind about the city’s investment policy.
He failed to change others’ minds last week as well.
Ryan asked for the city’s investment policy to be placed back on the council’s March 27 agenda because, he said, “I didn’t agree with the decision, I’m going to bring it up every council meeting until the sun doesn’t shine … I may never get my way, but as a council member, I can put it on the agenda every time and the pubic is going to hear about it.”

Newport neighbors hope to highlight incompatibility of county’s new zoning

IOWA CITY– By a 4-1 vote, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved the third and final reading of a controversial rezoning request on Thursday, March 28. The vote cleared the way for 90.89 acres of agricultural land owned by Sharon Dooley at 2915 Newport Road to be rezoned to the county’s new RC, or Residential Cluster, designation. The move allows Iowa City realtor Bill Young to move forward with plans for a 70-unit housing development.

NORTH LIBERTY– The Johnson County Secondary Roads Department will be holding a public information meeting on the Mehaffey Bridge Replacement Project Monday, April 15, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the South Slope Community Center located at 980 N. Front St. in North Liberty.